


records in the breeze

by yellowmarshmallow



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Remus Lupin, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Gay Sirius Black, James being a third wheel but also just being a good friend and we love him, James loves muggle music, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Record shop, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Needs a Hug, mentions of abuse, remus and Sirius being adorable boyfriends, remus shows the marauders muggle music, sirius is obsessed with muggle music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:06:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26920060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowmarshmallow/pseuds/yellowmarshmallow
Summary: In the summer of 1976, just before they begin their sixth year at Hogwarts, Remus decided to introduce James and Sirius to some of his favourite Muggle records. He knows Sirius has had a rough summer and hopes this will be just the right distraction.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 31





	records in the breeze

“Moony, mate, why the fuck didn’t you introduce me to David Bowie earlier?” James asked, lifting his arms towards the ceiling as Remus changed the record from ‘ _The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’_.

Remus chuckled as he glided the needle over to the first groove of ‘ _A Night at the Opera’_ , by Queen, watching as the record began to spin. “He’s been holding out on us Prongs,” Sirius added. “I had no idea Muggle music was so good!” he exclaimed.

The three Marauder’s were sprawled out in Remus’ bedroom. Remus had a spot next to his records, leaning against his bed, James was lying on the floor and Sirius had stolen Remus’ bed, pilling all the pillows and blankets in the corner against the wall – not that Remus minded after everything Sirius had gone through over the past two weeks.

“I personally prefer Queen,” Remus shrugged, sitting back on the floor as the intro to ‘ _Death on Two Legs’_ began. “Freddie Mercury’s voice is brilliant,” he smiled, tilting his head up to look at Sirius, who Remus knew would adore Freddie Mercury, just as he did David Bowie.

The soft piano filled the room, dancing with the golden sunlight from the late summer afternoon that streamed into Remus’ room. It wasn’t a very big room, it was miniscule in comparison to James’, only just big enough to fit the three 16-year olds. The window was opposite the door, with dusty red curtains pulled out of the way to let in as much sunlight as possible and a tiny table beneath, to give a home to his record player. The walls were lumpy as the plaster could only do so much to hide the grey stone of the cottage, but the walls were hidden behind multiple shelves, used to store his records and his books. A vase filled with wildflowers was perched on his desk and there were many exposed wooden beams which were home to plants growing towards the floor, creating a green canopy. The bed was pushed up against one of the walls, his desk against the wall opposite. Remus loved his room; it was one of the few places he felt completely and utterly safe.

Remus leaned his head back, closing his eyes as ‘ _Love of my Life’_ , started to play. He had a soft spot for this song. It was melancholy – bitterly melancholy – and when Remus first heard the song, he believed it was a prediction for how love would be for him. He softly sang along, his voice only audible to his own ears, smiling at the familiar sounds. When he felt a hand run through his hair, he stiffened, but quickly relaxed, leaning into Sirius’ touch as he played with his hair.

“Your hair’s so fluffy Moons,” he whispered, and Remus was unable to contain a small chuckle.

“Your hair’s nicer to play with though,” Remus replied, his eyes still closed – he knew Sirius was blushing.

There was a minute of silence between the two as the song continued to flutter around the room. “You’re the love of my life you know,” Sirius said off-handily, and Remus really did freeze this time, his body stiffening, causing Sirius to freeze too.

“Don’t say something like that Pads, you can’t possibly know that,” Remus sighed, opening his eyes to see Sirius leaning over his face.

“’Course I can, I love you more than I love myself,” Sirius grinned, and Remus raised an eyebrow.

“I guess you really do love me then,” he smirked, biting back a grin. “ _So far_ , you’re the love of my life too,” Remus grinned, pushing his head upwards to catch Sirius’ mouth with his own. It was a little awkward as Sirius was upside down, but Remus didn’t mind. Every kiss with Sirius was like a moment in the sun.

James interrupted the two of them with a cough. “As touching as this is, please at least kick me out beforehand,” he said, devoid of any emotion. Remus chuckled as Sirius went bright red, but still laughed at their friend.

James and Peter had been subjected to a lot of their affectionate displays. Peter had called them, ‘ _sickeningly sweet_ ,’ and James had said it was a constant reminder that Lily had rejected him and continued to do so.

“No can-do _Prongsie_ , you are stuck with us being a constant reminder of your crippling loneliness I’m afraid,” Sirius joked, an effortless grin (that made Remus’ insides turn to mush) sliding onto his features.

Rolling his eyes, James picked up the pillow that was underneath his head and chucked it at Sirius, missing by quite a margin, and hitting Remus in the face. “Oi!” Remus exclaimed, fighting a smile. “Honestly Prongs, how are you a Chaser again?” he teased, and James screamed in frustration.

“Sod off,” he muttered, and Remus glanced at Sirius. When the two made eye contact, they burst into a fit of laughter. “Why did Peter have to be in France?” James groaned.

The three of them continued to listen to the record, only moving to slip from the A side to the B side. Sirius, to Remus’ delight, continued to play with his hair, lulling him into a deeply relaxed state – he made a mental note to return the favour and plait Sirius’ hair for him later.

Once the needle hit the centre of the record player, indicating the end of the album, the sun was lower on the horizon and the room was no longer filled with a golden light, but orange. “How come you never mentioned how good these Muggle records were?” James asked, bewildered. Sirius had picked up the cover to the Queen album and was studying it carefully.

Remus rolled his eyes. “Lily and I talk about them all the time,” he pointed out, and sighed as Sirius and James furrowed their eyebrows at each other. “Merlin you’re both idiots,” he muttered, his joints cracking as he pushed himself off the floor. He smiled to himself as James flinched – he hated the noise, but Remus couldn’t do anything about it.

“But we’re your idiots,” Sirius said, making the bed creak as he threw himself back into it against the pillows.

“And Merlin knows why I’m friends with you,” Remus mumbled to himself, crouching down to flip through his records. “Beatles or Zombies?” he asked.

Sirius and James simultaneously sat up, shooting Remus an incredulous look. “What’s that got to do with anything?” James asked, and Remus shook his head, supressing a laugh when he realised their confusion.

“They’re band names,” he explained, trying his best not to laugh as their faces scrunched up even more.

“Oh!” James exclaimed. “Lily mentioned the Beatles once, didn’t she? I can’t remember why though,” he trailed off, biting his thumbnail.

“She called us the Beatles from the discount aisle,” Remus deadpanned, picking up the Beatles album, and James snapped his fingers.

“That was it,” he nodded, and Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

“I remember that, I had no idea what she meant,” Sirius noted, watching Remus drop the needle into the groove of the record.

“The Beatles are icons of Muggle music,” Remus stated. “It’s sad we can’t see them in concert,” he added idly as ‘ _Sgt, Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’_ , began to play.

“Why not?” Sirius asked, as the three returned to their listening positions.

“They disbanded in 1970,” Remus explained, and Sirius made an ‘ _o_ ’ shape with his mouth.

As the songs began to play, Remus was reminded of how much he loved the rest of the Marauder’s. The three of them exchanged wide grins when ‘ _With a Little Help from my Friends,_ ’ began to play, knowing the song would become a sort of anthem to their little group.

However, when ‘ _Getting better’_ , began to play, Remus noticed that Sirius’ gaze was stuck to the record, watching it spin, his expression unreadable. “Is it bad that, well the world isn’t getting better, but my own life is?” Sirius asked, his eyes still watching the record spin.

James contemplated what Sirius said for a moment. “I don’t think so,” he said, looking to Remus for support. “I mean, yeah things look a little bleak and there’s a possible war on the way, and it’s really going to fuck up a lot of things and your family is on the opposite side –“

“James,” Remus interrupted, now concerned for both Sirius and James. “ _Godric_ ,” he muttered under his breath, taking a deep breath. “Yeah Pads, the state of the wizarding community right now is a complete mess, _but_ ,” he emphasised, gesturing to both of them. “That doesn’t mean you don’t have a right to find happiness or joy in things, _Merlin’s Mother_ ,” Remus said, exasperated. He grew up a pessimist, only seeing the negatives about himself and believing that he was a monster. Eventually, he grew tired of constantly being numb and exhausted, physically, and mentally, so he decided ‘ _fuck it’_.

James chuckled. “I guess you’ve got a point there Moony.”

“’Course he does, Remus is the smartest of us all,” Sirius said, kissing to top of his head before gently tapping Remus’ left temple. “There’s a brain in here, whereas in here,” he said, pointing to his own temple. “There is none, and that’s OK, because it’s safe to say I’m the hottest Marauder,” Sirius grinned smugly, and Remus rolled his eyes. In fact, Remus was surprised he hadn’t rolled his eyes into his skull by now.

“Padfoot, Padfoot, Padfoot,” James said, slowly shaking his head. “We all know _I’m_ the hottest Marauder.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “Absolutely not Jamsie. I’m the hottest, then it’s Remus, then it’s you,” Sirius explained, and Remus felt his blood rush to his face when Sirius said he was the second best looking.

“I find it offensive that I’m not higher on that list,” James huffed, and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

“Do you want me to find you fitter than my boyfriend?” he asked, an eyebrow quirk, and the realisation set in on James face.

“ _Merlin_ on a bloody _dragon_ , no, _no_ I take it back!” James exclaimed horrified. Sirius burst into laughter and Remus sighed at the childish argument, but he was glad something had distracted them from their morbid thoughts.

A comfortable silence enveloped them once more, only broken by the music and the occasional car driving by the window. It was only when a still silence filled Remus’ room as the record finished, that one of the Marauder’s spoke.

“My mother,” Sirius began, lying still on Remus’ bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “She hit Reggie, she’s never done that before,” he said, his voice flat. “And I could just – I wouldn’t let her – I told her to stop,” he recounted, stumbling over his words as his voice cracked. “So she – well… it wasn’t pleasant,” Sirius shivered, and Remus reached out, placing his hand on top of Sirius’.

He glanced at James who looked pained. His nose was scrunched slightly, and he was watching Sirius, refusing to blink. The Potter’s were the only people to see how bad of a state Sirius had been in after his mother – Sirius had made James promise not to mention anything to Peter or Remus until he was better. Remus would have been furious but one look at how terrified and exhausted both of them had been and all his anger dissipated, leaving fear and worry for the boy he loved.

“But the worst part,” Sirius continued, taking a deep breath. “The worst part is I can’t get him out of there,” Sirius said, his words catching in his throat. “My mum’s been looking for a reason to disown me for years, running away is the perfect excuse, but that means Reggie will be the heir and she won’t let him go without a fight.” Sirius’ breathing was harsh and uncontrolled, his fear consuming Remus and by the looks of it, James as well.

Remus looked at James and they knew there was nothing they could say to make Sirius feel better. After a moment of silent communication, Remus stood up and nudged Sirius into a sitting position on the bed, sitting next to him, James on his other side. The three of them sat, squished on Remus’ bed, trying to comfort each other as best they could.

“It’s fucked,” James said, finally breaking the silence.

“Astute observation Prongs,” Remus quipped, smiling when he saw the corner of Sirius’ mouth twitch up.

“May as well feed myself to the Giant Squid when we go back,” James joked, noticing the small smile as well and Sirius scoffed.

“Ten Galleons says you won’t even get near the Giant Squid,” Sirius said, and Remus rolled his eyes.

“Ten Galleons and one essay says I can get closer than you,” James grinned.

“No one is going anywhere near the Giant Squid,” Remus sighed, refusing to give in and smile when Sirius pouted at him.

“Come on Moonbeam! Please,” Sirius begged, and Remus felt his insides melt as Sirius leaned against his shoulder.

James shot Remus a sly grin at the nickname. “Yeah _Moonbeam_ , don’t be such a Minnie,” he chuckled as Remus went bright red.

“Please do not call me Moonbeam,” he shivered, hating the strange variation of his nickname. “And don’t try to be cute Pads, if you’re going to jump in the Black Lake in September, I won’t be the one to pull you out,” he said, shaking his head.

“Come on!” Sirius insisted, somehow leaning closer against Remus who felt his blush darken as he shook his head. Sirius frowned for a moment, before grinning and then, in the blink of an eye, Padfoot was resting his head against Remus’ knee – Remus shot James a poisonous glare as he burst into laughter.

Remus groaned. “Come on, are you seri –“ he paused, eyes widening as Padfoot lifting his head slightly, and Remus knew Sirius would be smirking. “Are you kidding me Pads?” he sighed. “Fine, fine, bet your lives away then,” he said, unable to say no to Sirius’ Animagus form.

In another blink of an eye, Sirius was Sirius again. “Love you Moons,” he grinned, kissing the blushing honey-blond on the cheek.

“Yeah, yeah, love you too,” Remus muttered, waving a hand dismissively as he pushed Sirius away and got off the bed, carefully placing the Beatles record in the album cover.

“How did you get so many records Moony?” James asked after shaking hands with Sirius, sealing their bet.

Remus shrugged. “Some are from my parents, others I bought with money I used to get from doing the odd chore for the neighbours,” he explained, tucking the album back onto the shelf. “There’s a record shop on the high street.”

“Can we go?” James and Sirius exclaimed simultaneously, and Remus almost pulled the shelf over at the noise before he laughed at their genuine excitement over something so mundane.

“Sure, it should be open tomorrow,” Remus shrugged, smiling as the other two began to bounce up on down on the bed.

“We should buy a record player and then we can listen to all the records we want,” Sirius suggested to James, who perked up.

“Mum and Dad would love it, let’s do it,” James grinned.

“You’ll have to charm it to work without electricity though,” Remus pointed out. “Unless you’ve got plug sockets in the Manor?” he asked, knowing the answer would be no.

The two boys shrugged. “I’ll ask Mum to charm it or something, we’ll figure it out,” James dismissed, and Remus rolled it eyes, but let them try to figure it out.

“What about that gramophone your parents have in the ballroom?” Sirius asked excitedly, and Remus made a note to ask for a tour of the Potter Manor the next time he was there.

“The needles on gramophones and Muggle record players are different,” Remus interrupted, feeling slightly guilty he kept shattering their Muggle record dream. “But I suppose it would be easier to transfigure the needle on a gramophone than charm a record player,” he added, thankful to see they didn’t yet look dejected.

“So it’s settled, we’ll move the gramophone into your room Padfoot and get Mum or Dad to change the needle,” James grinned, clapping his hands together.

“And Remmy over here can give us recommendation of what to buy as our first records,” Sirius said, also grinning.

Remus groaned. “I don’t think anyone’s called me _Remmy_ since I was two,” he said, raising an eyebrow at Sirius from across the room.

“And you love it mon chou,” Sirius teased, purposefully speaking French to make Remus blush. Remus stuck out his tongue at Sirius who chuckled.

As James opened his mouth, looking as if he were about to make another comment about how they should kick him out of the room first, there’s a soft knock at the door. “Tea’ll be ready in a minute boys,” Remus’ mum (or Hope as she insisted the rest of the Marauder’s call her) said softly from the other side of the door, her footsteps fading out as she headed back downstairs.

“I love your Dad’s cooking,” Sirius smiled. “Much better than Prongs’ Dad – sorry mate, you know it’s true,” he added, grinning sheepishly as James tried to defend his dad but shrugged.

“Yeah, you’re right, thank Merlin Mum knows how to cook,” he shivered, no doubt remembering a bad meal of his father’s creation.

“And Mopsy,” Remus added, closing the door to his room as they walked into the hallway.

“And Mospy,” James nodded in agreement.

The smell of fresh bread for tomorrow and slow-cooked meat filled the kitchen and Remus felt a smile push onto his face as the three of them entered, squeezing themselves onto one side of the kitchen table with Sirius in the middle. “Remus dear, would you get the plates out the cupboard?” Hope asked, opening the draw to the cutlery – ever since Remus’ growth spurt made him pass the six-foot mark, she asked Remus to retrieve anything that was high up on the shelf.

Remus nodded, skilfully dodging his parents as they did their part around the kitchen and opened the cupboard, removing five plates and putting them far enough on the kitchen counter that they wouldn’t fall onto the floor. “Nothing fancy I’m afraid,” Lyall Lupin said, glancing over his shoulder at the two boys sat at the table as Remus retrieved the plates. “Just a simple pie.”

Sirius and James grinned, and Remus rolled his eyes. His dad made this pie for them every time they stayed over because he knew they loved it. “I’m sure it’s fantastic Mr Lupin,” James said as Remus sat back down at the table.

As Lyall was serving up said pie, Hope handed each of them a glass of water and joined the three of them at the table. “Did I hear Bowie earlier?” she asked.

Remus grinned as James and Sirius both blushed. “Just showing them the wonders of Muggle music,” he said, chuckling when Sirius elbowed him in the stomach.

“You’ve _never_ listened to any Muggle music?” Lyall asked, sounding as if it was a crime.

“And you did before you met me?” Hope challenged with a smirked as her husband blushed a light pink.

“Ah well, I suppose not,” he smiled sheepishly, handing out the plates of food and joining the rest at the table.

“I liked that Queenie album?” Sirius said, unsure, turning to Remus who bit back a chuckle.

“Queen, ‘ _A Night at the Opera’_ ,” he informed, seeing his mum also struggling not to laugh.

“Yes! That,” Sirius said, bouncing on his chair a little. “That was amazing.”

“I preferred the Beatles,” James shrugged, taking a bite of his food, and savouring the taste.

“Why am I not surprised?” Remus muttered under his breath to Sirius who giggled.

“Absolutely nothing to do with a certain red-head,” Sirius whispered back, loud enough for James to hear. Remus and Sirius burst into a fit of giggles when they saw James blush profusely.

James muttered something under his breath about ingrates and shove piled food into his mouth, only making Remus and Sirius laugh more. Hope and Lyall watched the scene with curious eyes, and Remus noticed his mum raised an eyebrow as she glanced between him and Sirius. Remus went pink and realised how he hand leaned into Sirius and placed his hand on Sirius’ thigh as he laughed, and Sirius had leaned into Remus too.

“We’re planning on going into town tomorrow,” Remus said, hoping to ignore his mum’s questioning gaze. “So they can buy their own records,” he explained, staring intently at his food.

“To Music Mania?” Lyall asked, thankfully being none the wiser to Remus and Sirius’ relationship.

“It’s called ‘Music Mania’?” James asked, ending his sulking as quickly as it started. “That’s an odd name for a store,” he muttered. Most of the stores in the wizarding world were named after the shop owner, but Muggle stores preferred to go for catchy, memorable titles relating to what the store sold.

“It sells music and some people are obsessed with music,” Remus shrugged.

The rest of the meal was filled with laughter and conversation, his mum making the occasional comment hinting that she knew about Sirius and Remus, but Sirius was too oblivious to notice and Remus refused to give in to his mother’s smug expression. James and Lyall got into a passionate discussion about Quidditch, as per usual, and Remus loved to interrupt them both with trivial questions to see their horrified expressions.

Remus knew everything about Quidditch, his dad had taken him to every Holyhead Harpies game since he was old enough to walk, but he had no interest in playing the sport – he did, however, find immense joy in tricking the both of them into thinking he knew nothing on the subject. Sirius would roll his eyes and remind James that there is no way Remus doesn’t actually know the answer and continue to talk about Muggle gardening with Hope, fascinated by the complexity of it.

After they’d had their fill of strawberries and cream afterwards, James and Sirius insisted on doing the washing up, and would not let Remus’ parents say no.

And so, Remus was sat on the kitchen table, watching as James washed the dishes and Sirius dried them, occasionally pointing out what draw or cupboard they needed to go in. “I feel like I should be doing something too,” Remus said, feeling guilty that his parents had cooked and now his friends were doing the washing up.

“You are doing something Moons,” Sirius said, turning around and leaning against the kitchen counter. “You’re making it very difficult to not stop what I’m doing and kiss you,” he grinned as Remus felt himself go bright red. “It’s quite distracting.”

“If you’re going to fuck please let me leave the room first,” James deadpanned, not looking up from the dishes.

Remus went scarlet and began to cough and splutter, choking on the air. Sirius raised an eyebrow in James’ direction. “James if you would kindly exit the room,” Sirius said, and James froze, turning to look at Sirius to see if he was being genuine.

“ _Bloody Merlin_ , Sirius we are not doing it in my parents’ kitchen,” Remus squeaked, his brain unable to function properly.

Sirius shrugged. “Then James, avoid Remus’ room for a bit,” he smirked.

“Sirius!” Remus exclaimed, burying his face in his hands, certain that if he were to go any redder, he’d be able to camouflage himself in the Gryffindor common room.

“I’m only teasing Moonbeam,” Sirius chuckled, turning back around.

“Definitely only teasing,” James muttered under his breath, yelping when Sirius pinched his arm, to which James retaliated by picking up a pile of the bubbly foam in the sink and dropping it on top of Sirius’ head – he squealed. Remus laughed at the ensuing soap fight, wiping the tears from his eyes as both boy’s whined about the mess to their hair.

After cleaning the kitchen of any random bubbles, the Marauder’s headed back upstairs, where they spent the evening examining Remus’ book collection instead of his records – which always made Remus roll his eyes as they called him a bibliophile. They were quickly distracted however as Remus remembered to plait Sirius’ hair. Their voices and laughter could be heard long into the night.

Remus didn’t remember falling asleep, but he did remember waking up as he felt someone snuggle up next to him in his bed. “Sirius?” he murmured, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

He got no reply and knew it must have been Sirius.

Pulling the other boy closer, Remus shuffled backwards in his bed until his back was against the wall, to make room for Sirius. “Nightmares?” he asked softly, feeling Sirius nod into his chest.

“I’m okay,” he whispered, still burying his face in Remus’ chest. “I just – I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Remus felt his heart crack at the vulnerability of Sirius’ voice. “I’m all right, love,” he replied, running his fingers through Sirius’ hair. “Go back to sleep yeah?” he whispered, kissing Sirius’ forehead as he closed his eyes and nodded gingerly.

\-----

The sunlight filtered through the canopy of the trees, dancing with the shadows on the footpath beneath. Birds song mixed with the faint hum of cars from the main road and the soft noise of the brook as the water brushed past the stones that were scattered throughout the stream. The air was light and easy to breath, smelling of dew and tree bark. As per the usual British summer, it wasn’t warm, but that didn’t matter as the sun gave the illusion of warmth, spreading through Remus’ bones and seeping into his blood – he was still wearing a woollen jumper, but one that was not as thick as what he usually wore.

Sirius had tried to berate him for it, but stopped as soon as James pointed out that he was still wearing his leather jacket. “Just because you have no sense in fashion Prongs,” he huffed, sticking his hands in his pockets as the Three Marauder’s traipsed down the footpath Remus insisted was a shortcut. It wasn’t but it was a nicer route.

“I refuse to be mocked by the bloke wearing a leather Jacket in bloody _August_ ,” James chastised. “Honestly Padfoot, you’ll overheat,” he stressed, and Remus chuckled. “You’re no better Moony, a jumper! Really?” he reprimanded, and Remus stopped chuckling, smiling sheepishly at James.

“You sound like Euphemia,” Sirius muttered, smiling when he noticed Remus had heard him, his eyes wide as he tried to bite back a laugh.

James went pale, apparently hearing Sirius as well. “Fuck it, overheat if you want to. I’m not sounding like Mum, _Merlin_ ,” he shivered, scrunching up his nose.

“You’re already the designated mother of the group Prongs,” Sirius shrugged. “Just like Peter is the designated snack bringer,” he grinned, as James groaned, burying his head in his hands.

“To be fair, Peter is the only one of us still allowed in the kitchens,” Remus said, remembering the incident in fourth year with a faint smile.

“It’s not my fault the flour stuck to the ceiling,” James insisted, excessively gesticulating. “Sirius was the one who decided to levitate the fireworks halfway across the kitchen.”

“And you’re the monster who levitated three poor house elves into the air, scaring the absolute shit out of them,” Sirius replied with a smirk.

“I panicked!” James explained, still waving his hands about.

Remus chuckled, rolling his eyes half-heartedly. “I don’t tend to levitate house elves when I panic, do you Sirius?” Remus asked, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend whose smirk grew.

“Can’t say I do Moony,” he replied, shaking his head with a dramatic sigh. “Those poor elves, traumatised,” he said, placing a hand over his chest.

“I apologised, and I cleaned it up,” James pointed out, but Sirius ignored him.

“Forever worried about that strange raven-haired kid with awful, ugly circular glasses, truly awful glasses,” he cried, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. Remus patted him on the shoulder.

“There, there Pads,” Remus assured, chuckling slightly. “I’m sure they’ve moved on.”

“Every time they see a student with glasses they wonder if it’s him,” Sirius continued, his dramatic antic interrupted when James ruffled up his hair. “ _James Fleamont Potter_!” Sirius shrieked, and Remus couldn’t contain his laughter, spluttering a few short laughs before composing himself and giggling as Sirius glared at him.

“You deserve it for being a prat,” James said indignantly.

“Oh sod off you git, as if you didn’t do the same when I got stuck under the wardrobe as Padfoot,” Sirius grinned, his eyes sparkling with mischievous amusement as James’ mouth twitched upwards. “Didn’t live it down for at least a month.”

“In all fairness love, it was pretty funny,” Remus added, smiling as Sirius stuck out his tongue at him.

“Don’t act all innocent and adorable Mr Lupin, I know what really happened in second year,” Sirius teased, and Remus felt himself turn red.

He groaned as James raised it his head towards the two, interested. “I thought you might have forgotten about that,” Remus replied truthfully.

“Is this the broom closet incident?” James asked, raising an eyebrow, amused.

Sirius nodded his head, grinning. “Only _I_ know what really happened,” he grinned, and Remus flicked his ear.

“And it’s going to _stay_ that way,” he scowled, folding his arms across his chest.

“Your secret’s safe with me Moonbeam,” Sirius chuckled, a skip in his step.

James looked disappointed. “But I’ve been trying to figure out what happened for almost four years!” he complained, running a hand through his hair. “How much longer ‘til we’re in town again? I always forget how long this journey takes.”

Remus glanced around at their surroundings. “Few more minutes.”

Emerging onto a road near the high street, James and Sirius were pestering Remus on what records to buy and what to expect from the shop. “Well, you pick up a record that looks interesting, and take it to the listening booth at the back –“

“Listening booth?” Sirius asked, fascinated. James was just as interested.

“It’s a soundproof – well, not completely soundproof but partially?” Remus explained, watching the other two soak-up every word he spoke. “A soundproof room, with a record player and headphones and you listened to the record before you buy it, to make sure you like it.”

“Headphones?” James asked as they walked onto the high street.

Remus smiled. “They’re like earmuffs, but you plug them into the record player, and you can listen to the music by yourself,” Remus said, watching as Sirius grinned and James’ eyes widened.

“Muggles are brilliant,” Sirius said. “And this is because of elec-trick-ee, right Moons?” he asked, looking at Remus like a puppy who was discovering the world for the first time.

Remus smiled softly at Sirius and shook his head. “Electricity, Pads, but yeah.”

Sirius went slightly pink and grinned at Remus sheepishly, linking arms with both Remus and James. A few people stared at the three of them as they walked towards the record shop, arm-in-arm, but none of them minded much. “This is why I don’t get the stature,” James sighed as they walked past a particularly grouchy looking old lady who scowled at them. “We could be using headphones and elec-trish-ity, but we’re not,” he said, pointing at a car as it drove down the street. “I first saw a car when I was about nine, no idea what it was, must have looked like a right prat.”

“You always look like a prat Prongs,” Sirius joked, quickly ducking behind Remus to avoid James’ wrath.

“Sod off you git,” James grinned, reaching behind Remus, leading the two of them to chase each other around Remus who looked apologetically at passers-by.

Remus tried not to smile, but he couldn’t help laughing at their childish dispute, which lasted until they entered the shop. In fact, they didn’t even realise they’d reached the shop until Remus had walked in though the door and they no longer had Remus to run circles around. “ _Moony_!” Sirius whined, as James ruffled his hair.

Remus looked at his boyfriend and shrugged. “You brought this on yourself,” he smirked, as Sirius muttered about how he was a traitor and James looked proud of himself because he managed to ruffle Sirius’ hair so it looked as if he hadn’t spent 20 minutes brushing it this morning – in fact it looked like he hadn’t brushed it for years.

The shop was covered murals, something the owners had commissioned years ago. Every surface of the shop was covered in bright swirls of paint, with the walls creating scenes from classic books or views from the town. There were crates upon crates of records, with racks displaying recommendations from the store as well as records in the charts. There was a smell of coffee and plastic that was nostalgic for Remus, as it reminded him of when his mum first introduced him to the store.

After setting James and Sirius loose in the store, Remus noticed a familiar face behind the counter.

“Remus! Swear you’ve grown even more since I last saw you mate,” Andrew laughed, and Remus joined in. Andrew was almost as tall as Remus, with mousy brown hair and faint stubble on his chin. He smiled widely and had crinkled lines around his eyes when he did. Andrew had never asked about his scars, and their love of Bowie and Queen, as well as the Elton John, helped them to form a strange friendship, despite Andrew being ten years older.

“Probably,” Remus shrugged, cringing when he heard a faint _thud_ behind him. Quickly turning around, he saw James wincing and shook his head. “Try not to kill yourself Prongs,” Remus called out.

James grinned and saluted, Sirius lifting his head from the crate he was flipping through to chuckle. “I’ll keep an eye on him Moony.”

“That’s what worries me,” he murmured, turning back to Andrew who was looking at Remus with an amused glint in his eye.

“Friends from that mysterious boarding school?” Andrew asked, and Remus rubbed the back of his neck as he nodded.

“What gave it away?” Remus smiled, knowing that Sirius and James always stood-out amongst Muggles – and to the same extent, so did Remus.

“Besides the strange nicknames, those two have never set foot in a shop in their lives,” Andrew said, raising an eyebrow as James and Sirius got excited about the soundproof booth (more specifically, the headphones). “How’ve you been anyway?”

After a few minutes of catching up with Andrew, and Andrew recommending some new bands, Remus felt as if he was being watched and turned his head to see Sirius watching him in the corner of his eye. Sirius looked away as soon as he’d been noticed and went pink, Remus chuckled, continuing his conversation with Andrew.

Eventually, Remus wondered if they’d ever decide on a record to listen to, and, as if by magic, Sirius tapped his shoulder. “I think I found an album,” Sirius grinned, holding the record behind his back. “It reminded me of you,” he said, his grin widening, and Remus raised an eyebrow.

“Should I be worried?” Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged, and brought the record into Remus view, who instantly groaned. Sirius fell into a fit of giggles and tried to speak but was unable to get a word in-between his laughter.

‘ _The Dark Side of the Moon_ ,’ by Pink Floyd.

“Seriously Padfoot?” Remus complained, smiling anyway.

Sirius laughed even harder and Remus realised what he just said, rolling his eyes and supressing another groan. “Sorry Moony, but it really did remind me of you,” Sirius grinned, linking his arm with Remus’ and leaning towards the taller boy. “But it’s the dark side of the moon, the part you never see,” Sirius added, and Remus felt himself go red.

The new moon was the time when Remus felt least like the wolf. When he felt the closest to being normal. Sirius knew this, and whilst he didn’t agree, (he said that Remus was never normal, but no one ever is), Remus felt his heart swell at the sentiment.

Sirius was trying to tell Remus how much he meant to him.

“I hate you sometimes,” Remus smiled.

“You love me Remus, don’t deny it,” Sirius grinned, before heading over the James.

Remus watched Sirius for a moment, entranced. Until Andrew coughed, pulling Remus from his thoughts. “I get the feeling he isn’t just a friend?” Andrew asked with a knowing smile.

“And if he wasn’t?” Remus challenged. He may have known Andrew for a few years, but he was always willing to punch a homophobe.

Andrew raised his hands. “Be a bit hypocritical of me to be against it,” he shrugged, and Remus felt his body relax.

“Wait, you’re…?” Remus began, realising what Andrew said.

He nodded. “You can never be too careful with who you tell nowadays,” Andrew sighed, and Remus nodded in agreement. Sirius glanced over at the two of them and waved enthusiastically as James rolled his eyes and lightly hit Sirius over the back of the head, saying something about how he can gawk at Remus later. Remus rolled his eyes but waved back anyway. He could see that the two of them had about six records between them.

“I should go see if they want to listen to those albums,” Remus said.

“It was good to see you mate,” Andrew smiled. “Glad to know that boarding school hasn’t killed you yet.”

Remus chuckled as walked over to Sirius, who instantly linked arms with him. “Moonbeam!” he exclaimed, and Remus rolled his eyes. “David Bowie is my new role model, have you seen this!” he grinned, shoving a record at Remus. “He is rocking that dress… should I wear a dress?” he asked and Remus bit back his laughter as Sirius mentally began to plan an outfit.

James looked at Remus’ exasperated smile and chuckled. “Honestly Pads, you’d rock a dress,” he grinned, and Sirius flipped his hair.

“That I would Prongs,” he said, returning the grin. “What do you think Moony?”

“I think you’d look good in any outfit Pads,” Remus smiled, and Sirius clapped his hands together.

“That is the correct answer,” Sirius nodded. “But I’m definitely getting a dress, if for no other reason than it would piss my mother off,” he joked.

Neither Remus nor James knew how to respond to that. “Did you find any albums you want to listen to?” Remus asked.

James nodded. “I found a few, but I sort of want to wait to listen to them,” he said, smiling sheepishly. Remus understood the feeling. “Even if they’re shite the art on the front is really cool so I can just display it.”

Rolling his eyes, Remus turned to Sirius. “I wouldn’t mind listening to them, but Merlin knows how you work these things.” He flipped the record to look at the other side and glanced at the listening booth.

Laughing Remus grabbed the records from Sirius. “I’ll show you,” he said with a soft smile, gently pulling at Sirius’ hand in the direction of the listening booth. “You too Prongs,” Remus grinned at James who shook his head with a laugh.

“I’ll leave you gays to it,” he teased. “I’ll pay for these, can’t be too difficult to use Muggle money,” James shrugged, and Remus raised an eyebrow, remembering when James got excited over a 20 pence piece.

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. “Prongs, didn’t you mean guys not –“

“I made no mistake Pads,” James deadpanned, and Remus chuckled as Sirius rolled his eyes, a small smile dancing on his lips.

“You’re a prat James,” Sirius replied.

“It’s _all_ part of the charm Padfoot,” James grinned with a small bow as he walked to the counter to pay.

“Ah yes, his _charm_ ,” Remus muttered sarcastically under his breath, making Sirius snort. “Come on, I’ll show you how this works,” he said, nodding his head at the listening booth.

The listening booth was covered in a greyish-yellow wool-like material and bathed in a neon pink light from above. There was a single record player with its lid closed (to prevent dust collecting on it) on a rectangular box and a pair of burgundy headphones placed on top. The headphones had a loosely coiled wire, which was plugged into the audio jack on the side of the record player. Remus lifted the top of the record player up and handed the headphones to Sirius who examined them with child-like curiosity.

“It’s quite simple,” Remus began, leaning all the records but one against the box the record player was on. He slid one of the records from out of its album cover. “You take the record and put in on the player,” Remus explained, checking behind him to see if Sirius was watching – he was. “Then, you pick up the needle, and if you look, you can see a smooth ridge around the record, that’s just static so that’s where you want to place the needle.”

Sirius nodded along with what Remus was saying, but Remus could tell he was only picking up parts of it. “And how to I start the music?” he asked.

“The record will spin once the needle is picked up, see?” Remus picked up the needle and the record began to slowly turn.

Sirius’ eyes lit up. “Holy shit, that’s cool,” he muttered, a smile on his face.

Remus smiled at his boyfriend as he put the needle backdown. He took the headphones from Sirius and carefully covered his ears with them and then guided the needle to the start of the record. It didn’t take long for a massive grin to break out onto Sirius’ face and Remus knew the music had started, even though he couldn’t hear it. They were supposed to be inside the listening booth, but it was more that Remus was stood inside whilst Sirius was stood in the entrance, grinning like an idiot.

“This is so good!” Sirius yelled, and Remus flinched at the volume of his voice, laughing as Sirius furrowed his eyebrows.

Reaching forward, Remus stretched the headphones off of his ears so Sirius could hear him. “You were yelling,” he explained, chuckling as Sirius went bright red.

“Sorry,” he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Remus shook his head and put the headphones back over Sirius’ ears.

They continued like this for all of the records. Sirius would listen to a few songs and decide whether he liked the band or not and Remus would try his best not to interrupt Sirius as he focused on the music. Sirius’ face would crinkle, and his eyes would light up, his lips would tremble as a sad song played and he’d even mouth along to the catchy chorus’.

In total, James and Sirius bought eleven records between them and made Andrew raise a concerned eyebrow when neither of them knew how to pay correctly.

As they were walking back to Remus’ house, gently swinging the bags with the record in, Remus found himself hoping that they’d always be able to do this. To buy records and do nothing but listen to them all day. Even though Sirius and James were somehow arguing over who would win in asking the Giant Squid on a date to Hogsmeade, Remus would miss these idiots once they finished Hogwarts, especially if he rarely saw them. He hoped that no matter the outcome of his relationship with Sirius, they would all stay the closest of friends.

Of course, a part of him (a rather large part) hoped he’d always be with Sirius. However, that small, realistic voice in the back of his head said that was unlikely, but he hoped anyway.

He wished they could stay in this moment a little longer.


End file.
